ARIA DE MUSTANG

part 2 of NOUVELLE BURLESQUE BRUTAL

The striptease is accompanied by the history of exploitation of women, in terms of a patriarchal economy as well as a rigid body image and regime of the gaze. Since the early 1990s, "New Burlesque", following from the theater forms of the 1930s, has met this genre with humor and self awareness and attempted to re-open the female body as a self-determined field of attraction. The sexual charge is, in this case, supplemented with a dance-like game of poses and gestures that does not aim at a purely male gaze, and propagates alternative body images.

With ARIA DE MUSTANG, the second part of a planned trilogy, Katrina Daschner makes a very clear reference to this genre, but at the same time expands it with queer-lesbian, and also sadomasochistic signs and images, which have no place in common hetero-normative representational systems. Right from the start, Daschner clarifies the context that she positions herself in, that is, which eyes and ears she exposes herself to with her performance. Proponents working in Vienna´s queer-lesbian art and culture scene dressed in riding outfits frame the glamorous sparkling setting like a Greek chorus, and function as roaring commentators who conclude the video.

The choreography of the performance, in which Daschner and two lovers (all in fetish costumes) enjoy themselves, runs along a multiply repeating line of a song from the local music group Bonanza Jellybean: "I know, that I am gorgeous, that is nothing new. When I go to bed tonight it will definitely not be with you." Despite the unambiguous rejection in the lyrics, a direct and autonomous gaze into the camera maintaining steady contact with the audience remains the defining gesture of both the performers as well as the chorus. Even when a pornographic scene marks the end of the performance, the actresses do not lower their eyes in shame, instead, their expressions remain controlled: A queering of the existing situation that stages a coquettish flirt with the camera.

(Dietmar Schwärzler)

Translation: Lisa Rosenblatt


The intentions of the distinguished lady in the riding stables are well out of order. In the face of well-formed mount a gorgeous "romp and stomp" between horse and rider soon begins in which the lady of the house slowly but surely loses her lovely dressage outfit.

(Barbara Reumüller)

Orig. Title
ARIA DE MUSTANG
Year
2009
Country
Austria
Duration
18 min
Director
Katrina Daschner
Category
Avantgarde/Arts
Orig. Language
No Dialogue
Downloads
Credits
Director
Katrina Daschner
Concept & Realization
Katrina Daschner
Cinematography
Hannes Böck
Editing
Hannes Böck, Katrina Daschner
Production
Lady Chutney
Actor/Actress
Frau Professor La Rose, Sabine Marte, Astrid Wagner, Katharina Aigner , Denice Bourbon, Sandra Ortmann
Executive Producer
Katrina Daschner
Production Manager
Katharina Aigner
Production Assistance
Astrid Wagner
Supported by
Carola Dertnig
Available Formats
Betacam SP (Distribution Copy)
Frame Rate
25 fps
Color Format
colour
Digital Betacam (Distribution Copy)
Aspect Ratio
16:9
Sound Format
stereo
Frame Rate
25 fps
Color Format
colour
Digital File (prores, h264) (Distribution Copy)
Festivals (Selection)
2009
Wien - Identities Queer Film Festival
Lissabon - Queerlisboa Lesbian & Gay Festival
Oslo - Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
Hamburg - Lesbisch Schwule Filmtage Querfeld
Montréal - Image&Nation Gaie et Lesbienne Montréal, Festival Int. de Cinéma et Video
Paris - Lesbian & Gay & Trans Festival
2010
Graz - Diagonale, Festival des Österreichischen Films
London - BFI Flare LGBT Festival
Dublin GAZE Film Festival
Basel - Clair-obscur Filmfestival
Madrid - Semana de Cine Experimental
Copenhagen - Gay & Lesbian Film Festival
Freiburg - Freiburger Lesbenfilmtage
2013
Wroclaw - New Horizons Festival